The Shoreditch Sketcher a.k.a Phil Dean held a sketching workshop in September, I couldn’t resist in attending as I am a big fan of his illustration style.
I rocked up to Black and White, 74 Rivington Street, Shoreditch on a chilly September Saturday morning, praying the rain would hold off as obviously this was to be an outdoors affair for the next 2.5 hours. I actually thought we may be wondering about the streets of Shoreditch, however, we stood on the rooftop. This was a clever idea, I did wonder how we were going to walk to and sketch 2 or 3 areas of Shoreditch in such a small space of time. From the rooftop, there were 4 or 5 cool views across the area with a mishmash of architectural styles. I settled on a scene overlooking the Overground train line with an interesting array of buildings grouped together, and a spire in the background which is what really drew my attention. I wanted to overlay the trains whizzing past towards the end of my sketch, however, the British weather got the best of us and the group consensus was we should move from the rooftop to somewhere with some shelter.
We went and lurked under a bridge, still on Rivington Street, surrounded by many pieces of famous street art. Luckily the view from under the bridge, in either direction, was still super interesting with sharp perspective lines. I did find it a challenge and I was quite conscious of time too. I was not a big fan of either of my sketches during the workshop, however, I went home and worked on them some more and I think I rescued them both slightly – as in I don’t completely hate them!
We also received a free Hahnemuhle sketchbook with toned paper, we could pick grey or cappuccino (tan). I picked Cappuccino as I see a lot of beautiful work on the brown tone paper and I have always been keen to give it a try. I have started a sketch and the paper is so beautifully smooth, you can tell why they are so expensive (worth £15 apparently). Doodlewash has a review of these sketchbooks here.
I had never been to a sketching workshop before and it was a great couple of hours spent with like-minded people sketching scenes I would not usually attempt. It was really interesting meeting Phil, I love his work so it was great to chat with him, see some of his sketches in person and pick his brains.
I think Phil runs workshops every now and again. If you follow him on social media, and you are keen to go along you are sure to catch his posts about when the next one will take place.
Phil’s Website: https://www.theshoreditchsketcher.com/
Phil’s Instagram: @phildean1963
